This is funny. Only because in the other thread where you shared the chart regarding vehcle sales, I had edited my initial response to remove "Next we'll be hearing about new homes being built". Really. I edited the thing because I didn't think in a million years anyone would be so foolish to think that people were so naive to buy the argument without the relevant outliers. Again...the same outliers as in the car sales thread.

I should have just left it. Gosh. Could see it coming from a mile away. In fact, I'm fond of the notion that political science...much like the real stuff...is nothing if not prediction.

Probably should just go ahead and add food spending while we're on the subject. Do you have a chart on standby for that too? May as well just go ahead and get it out of the way.

So, you don't think the economy is improving? Really? If so, you're foolish. Things aren't even close to great, but they're slowly getting better.

I just took a walk around my neighborhood, which actually has a pretty stable economy, because it is centered around the military. There are foreclosed and abandoned houses *everywhere*

So any more homebuilding just means the bubble has yet to pop. Houses are far too expensive still.

And just the opposite is true in my community. We aren't centered around military. We're centered around technology and engineering, and we're booming. There are literally hundreds of millions of dollars worth of construction projects currently underway, and people and businesses are flocking to the area because of low tax rates.

Perhaps the economy is just going through a massive dead cat bounce? I suppose the Keynesian pump will work for just a wee bit more before another dump. In fact the Feds announced the "double it" approach in regards to QE. A cyclical pattern of more money and shorter booms is becoming more evident. Can't wait to see what happens when the QE totally decouples and sends the next bounce 6 feet into the red.

And just the opposite is true in my community. We aren't centered around military. We're centered around technology and engineering, and we're booming. There are literally hundreds of millions of dollars worth of construction projects currently underway, and people and businesses are flocking to the area because of low tax rates.